THE NETHERLANDS: Petition for Experiment with Basic Income for Unemployed 55+ Handed to Parliament

On November 14th 2017, Antoinette Hertsenberg (from the Dutch television program Radar) handed over a petition to the Dutch Parliament (signed by 113.344 people), asking for an experiment with a basic income for people over 55 years old who are unemployed.

The petition was started after Radar called attention to the fact that only 3% of the unemployed 55+ have a chance to find a paid job in the Netherlands, 6 months ago.

The handing over of the petition was a large event; many members of Parliament were present, representing almost all political parties. In reaction to the petition, the Socialist Party (SP) asked for a debate in Parliament on the topic, in contrast to what happened in the preceding year, in which a debate about another petition on basic income was refused.

A lot of media attention was given to the petition, reigniting discussion on basic income in the Netherlands.

About Hilde Latour

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If it’s only for 55+ who are unemployed, how can that count as basic income? One key component of BI, and one of the things that is central to the most convincing arguments for it, is its universality. If it’s means-tested (whether by income, wealth, or employment status – which strikes me as essentially just a proxy for income) it isn’t even basic. It’s just income.
Not that it isn’t a lovely and humane thing to do, giving enough for a dignified life to people who are unlikely to find employment, but it isn’t anything I’d recognize as basic income.